Old Manila mutiny clip misrepresented as soldiers demanding Marcos ouster
- Published on October 27, 2025 at 06:42
- 3 min read
- By Ara Eugenio, Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines
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The Philippine military chief said he rejected calls from retired officers in September to topple Ferdinand Marcos as street protests against corruption rocked Manila, but a video circulating on social media does not show soldiers demanding the president's resignation. The clip depicts renegade recruits speaking to the press during a failed 2003 coup against then-President Gloria Arroyo.
"The Philippine military is finally awake. This gives me goosebumps. Step down, Bongbong Marcos," reads Tagalog-language text over a Facebook video shared September 27, 2025.
The clip depicts uniformed men at a press conference calling on the public to open their eyes and "know what is really happening in (the) government."
"Whether military or civilian, the country’s problems have become severe. Where do you stand? Will you just go along?" one of the men says.
Rumours and speculation about a possible military plot to oust Marcos, allegedly involving retired soldiers, circulated on social media throughout October.
They followed October remarks by Armed Forces chief General Romeo Brawner, who said some retired officers had approached him and younger members of the military the previous month to urge Marcos’s removal, but their calls were rejected (archived link).
He said the moves came as Manila prepared for massive September 21 anti-corruption protests over alleged bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of pesos.
The supposed video of soldiers demanding Marcos's ouster spread in other social media posts, drawing comments from users who believed it showed an actual military uprising.
"Yes, Lord, I hope everyone else turns on Marcos," one user wrote.
Another said: "Thank you sirs, that there are people like you who still care about the country."
But the clip shared in the posts is more than two decades old, as Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN previously reported (archived link).
2003 footage
A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google traced the footage to a video uploaded by Philippine broadcaster News5 to YouTube on July 27, 2023 (archived link).
The title says: "Oakwood Mutiny (July 27, 2003) | #News5Throwback".
According to the caption, the footage was taken when around 300 rebel soldiers staged a mutiny by storming the Oakwood apartment complex in Manila’s Makati financial district on July 27, 2003.
The renegade troops took over the building -- which housed businessmen and diplomats -- for one day while demanding Arroyo and her defence chiefs step down over corruption allegations (archived link).
After surrendering 22 hours into the standoff, the soldiers were later tried by military courts. Some were imprisoned for several years, while Arroyo remained in power until 2010.
Her successor, Benigno Aquino, who came to power in 2010 after promising to fight corruption, granted amnesty that year to all officers and soldiers who had risen up against her (archived link).
The News5 footage also matches a scene shown in an AFP photo taken by Jimin Lai.
AFP has previously debunked other misinformation about the Philippine corruption scandal involving flood control projects.
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